24 August 2010; Henan Airlines ERJ-190; B-3130; flight VD8387; Yichun, China: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Harbin to Yichun, China. The aircraft broke up and caught fire after it overran the runway after landing. At the time of the crash, there was fog in the area and limited visibility. The aircraft carried five crew members and 91 passengers, and 43 of the occupants were killed. At least one flight crew member survived.
Embraer 190 Crash History This was the first crash of an Embraer 190 that resulted in the death of at least one airline passenger. This is also the first fatal airliner crash involving any of the Embraer jet airliner models (ERJ 170/175 and ERJ 19-/195). According to AirFleets.net, there are over 650 Embraer jets in service. This was also the first fatal plane crash involving an airline from China since 2004.
About Henan Airlines Henan Airlines is operated by Shenzhen Airlines, and was formerly known as Kunpeng Airlinesbegan flight operations in October 2007, and prior to the crash had a fleet of about four ERJ-190 aircraft.
Yesterday saw both a serious incident and a fatal crash involving two wide-bodied jets. While everyone escaped with their lives in the first event in Hong Kong, all on board plus at least one on the ground lost their lives in Mexico.
Cathay Pacific A330 almost loses both engines In the first event, Cathay Pacific flight CX780, an A330, was approaching Hong Kong, China after a flight from Surabaya, Indonesia when the crew noted problems with the left engine. After shutting down the left engine, the right engine experienced several uncontrolled increases and decreases in thrust (Correction: FlightGlobal reports that the right engine was at idle thrust throughout the approach, and the left engine was stuck at 70% thrust, leading to a high speed landing at an incorrect flap setting).
The crew declared an emergency and landed about 25 minutes later. All four tires on the left landing gear and two of the four on the right main landing gear deflated after the landing, and the 309 passengers and 14 crew members evacuated. Eight passengers were injured, with one sent to a local hospital for at least an overnight stay. It is unclear if the injuries occurred before, during, or after the evacuation.
Typically, US airlines offer little if any compensation to passengers after an incident like this. Unlike most US airlines, Cathay Pacific offered full refunds to all the passengers on this flight.
7 October 2008; Qantas A330-300; Flight 72; near Learmonth, Australia: The aircraft was in cruise on a scheduled international flight from Singapore to Perth when the aircraft experienced several sudden and unexpected altitude changes. About 36 passengers and crew members were injured, with over a dozen severe injuries.
1 June 2009; Air France A330-200; Flight 447; Atlantic Ocean: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France when it crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the northeast coast of Brazil. All 216 passengers and 12 crew members were killed.
25 December 2009; Northwest Airlines A330-300; Flight 253; near Detroit, MI: A passenger on a Northwest Airlines A330-300(N820NW) attempted to detonate an explosive device while the aircraft was approaching Detroit after a flight from Amsterdam. None of the other 277 passengers or 11 crew members were killed.
Cargo jet crashes in Mexico and kills at least six
Also on Tuesday, an A300 jet, operated by AeroUnion of Mexico, crashed during its approach to the Monterrey, Mexico airport. The A300 had departed earlier that evening from Mexico City and crashed just outside the airport in an area adjacent to a number of hotels. All five crew members, plus at least one person in a car hit by the aircraft, were killed.
28 November 2009; Avient Aviation MD11F; Z-BAV; Flight 324; Shanghai, China: An Avient Aviation MD11 crashed just after taking off from Shanghai's Pudong International Airport. The aircraft (registration Z-BAV) was on an unscheduled cargo flight (flight 324) from Shanghai, China to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan when it crashed. Three of the seven crew members were killed.
Reportedly, one eyewitness, who is a pilot based in Shanghai, stated that the main gear left the ground just before the end of the runway, with the aircraft gaining very little altitude, before impacting approach lights and antennas and falling back onto the ground. Another report indicated that the aircraft's tail struck the runway one or more times during takeoff.
Overhead View of Area of the Crash
About Avient Aviation Avient Aviation is registered in Harare, Zimbabwe, but operates out of Great Britain. According to Flight Global and Avient Aviation, the airline owns four other cargo aircraft in its fleet, including three DC10s, and one Ilyushin Il-76, and operates 727 cargo aircraft as well. The accident aircraft, which first flew in 1990, had previously been registered to Korean Air (HL7372) and Varig Logistica (PR-LGD). It was delivered to Avient Aviation just eight days before the crash. According to AirFleets.net, the aircraft had been in storage in Miami for about 17 months.
Accident Investigation The investigation is being conducted by China's General Administration of Civil Aviation, with the assistance of the NTSB, FAA, aircraft manufacturer Boeing, and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. The investigating agency's phone number is (86) 10 6401-2907, their web site is at www.caac.gov.cn, and their email address is yf_mao@caac.gov.cn.
MD11 Crash History The most recent Shanghai crash was the second crash of an MD-11 this year. The previous crash was also in Asia and involved the crash landing of an MD11 at Tokyo's Narita airport on 23 March 2009. There have been a total of eight MD11 events that have resulted in either onboard fatalities or a destroyed aircraft. Five of these eight events involved MD11 cargo aircraft. In 1999, a Korean Air MD11 also crashed shortly after taking off from a different Shanghai airport.
23 March 2009 Crash of a FedEx MD-11 near Tokyo Audio: MP3 | Video: iPod/MP4 | WMV | YouTube
About the MD11 About two hundred MD11s were built, and about 178 are currently in service. FedEx Express operates the world's largest MD-11 fleet with about 59 active aircraft. Well over half of all active MD-11s are flying as dedicated cargo aircraft, with many of them being converted passenger airliners.
The aircraft was on a cargo flight from Guangzhou, China to Narita Airport near Tokyo, Japan. The aircraft bounced on landing, and contacted the runway a second time nose wheel first. The plane then rolled to the left, hit the runway with its left horizontal stabilizer and wing, caught fire and rolled over onto its back, coming to rest off the left side of the runway. Both crew members were killed. This was the first fatal accident at Narita Airport since it opened in 1978.
This was the fourth crash landing of an MD-11 that led to either fatalities or to the destruction of the aircraft. Two previous crashes involved FedEx Express, a July 1997 crash in Newark, New Jersey, and an October 1999 landing overrun at Subic Bay Airport in the Philippines. No one was killed in these two events. An August 1999 China Airlines crash landing in Hong Kong during a rain storm led to the death of three of the passengers on board. There have been three fatal crashes involving passengers, the most recent being the Hong Kong crash.
About two hundred MD-11s were built, and about 182 are currently in service. FedEx Express operates the world's largest MD-11 fleet with about 57 active aircraft. Well over half of all active MD-11s are flying as dedicated cargo aircraft, with many of them being converted passenger airliners (including about 19 aircraft operated by Lufthansa Cargo). In addition to the two MD-11 crashes, NTSB records indicate that FedEx MD-11 aircraft have been in at least five other landing incidents or accidents involving either a bounced landing or a tail strike.
Watch or listen to the AirSafe.com report on this accident below:
Coincidentally, just a few hours after the FedEx Express crash, a Pilatus PC-12 aircraft crashed on approach to Butte, Montana. The aircraft had been on a flight from Orovile, California to Bozeman, Montana. The pilot changed the flight plane to Butte, MT, and the aircraft crashed about 500 feet (150 meters) from the airport. All 14 on board were killed, including several children.
In early March 2009, the AAIB released findings from the investigation of the January 2008 British Airways 777 accident that point to ice buildup in the fuel system as the key factor in the crash in London. On March 11th, 2009, the NTSB called for a redesign of the fuel system, and for the affected aircraft to have those changes installed within six months after the redesign is complete. Watch or listen to the AirSafe.com report on these updates below, or read the transcript.
Recent findings from the AAIB accident investigation point to ice buildup in the fuel system as the key factor in the January 2008 crash of a British Airways 777 in London. On March 11th, 2009, the NTSB called for a redesign of the fuel system, and for the affected aircraft to have those changes installed within six months after the redesign is complete.
You can hear this information in the podcast here or at at podcast.AirSafe.org
In the January 2008 crash, the flight from Beijing to London was routine until the the aircraft was on final approach, when both engines had an uncommanded power reduction, or engine rollback, which caused the plane to land short of the runway. Although the aircraft was seriously damaged, only one of the 136 passengers was seriously injured, and there were no serious injuries among the 16 crew members.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch in the UK headed the investigation, with the help of several other organizations, including the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the engine manufacturer Rolls Royce, and British Airways.
The series of updates and interim reports from the AAIB, the most recent of which was released in early March 2009, revealed that the likely cause of the dual engine rollback was ice blockage in a critical fuel system component that led to a reduction of fuel flow to the engine.
These findings didn't come easily. The AAIB focused its efforts on the fuel system because of the unusual conditions of the accident flight. That flight was exposed to rather cold atmospheric conditions, so cold that the crew changed altitudes at one point to fly through warmer air.
The AAIB reviewed the minimum fuel temperature data from over 141,000 777 flights. About 13,000 of these flights were on aircraft operating with the Rolls Royce Trent 800 series engine, the same kind as on the accident aircraft. Of those 13,000 flights, only 118 had fuel temperatures at takeoff that were at or below the takeoff fuel temperature of the accident flight, and during the approach phase, only 70 had fuel temperatures that were as low or lower than the fuel temperature on the accident flight.
The two most likely accident scenarios that were investigated by the AAIB both involved ice formation within the fuel system, leading to a reduction of fuel flow. This ice formation was possible because the aircraft fuel did contain some water. This kind of contamination is normal, and in fact the fuel from the accident aircraft was tested, and found to be in compliance with the appropriate fuel specifications.
After an extensive analysis of the fuel system, the AAIB concluded that the most likely scenario for the engine rollback was that ice formed in the fuel pipes within the main fuel tank, and that during the latter part of the approach phase of the flight, factors such as turbulence, aircraft pitch changes, and increasing temperatures could have contributed to the sudden release of accumulated ice into the fuel feed system of both engines. This ice would have restricted the fuel flow through a component called the fuel oil heat exchanger and would have led to the engine rollbacks.
The AAIB recommended that Boeing and Rolls Royce review the aircraft and engine fuel system design, and make changes that would prevent ice from restricting fuel flow through the fuel oil heat exchanger.
In the US, the National Transportation Safety Board went further, recommending that within six months of completing the redesign, that it be incorporated in all 777 aircraft using the Trent 800 engines. Some of the airlines that fly Trent 800 equipped triple sevens include Air New Zealand, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Airlines, El Al, Emirates, Kenya Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and Thai Airways. There are about 220 such aircraft currently in service.
The NTSB's recommendations were influenced by a second 777 rollback event. On November 26, 2008, a Delta 777, powered by two Trent 800 series engines, experienced a single-engine rollback while in cruise on a flight from Shanghai to Atlanta. The crew was able to address the issue and continued the flight without incident. Later analysis indicated that there was a blockage of the fuel oil heat exchanger on that engine that was likely due to ice accumulation. Although the engine rollbacks on the British Airways accident aircraft and the Delta Airlines incident aircraft occurred during different phases of flight, the fuel temperatures at the time of the rollbacks were about equal.
Taken together, these developments are good news for the aviation community, especially passengers and crews flying on 777s equipped with Trent 800 engines. The investigative authorities have determined the likely cause of the event, the changes to the fuel system that are needed are well understood, and the engine and aircraft manufacturers are well on their way to developing solutions that will prevent similar occurrences in the future.
For more on this investigation, or for information about aviation safety or aviation security issues, please visit 777.AirSafe.org.
On 25 July 2008, A Qantas airlines 747-400, with 346 passengers and 19 crew members on board, had an explosive decompression event over the South China Sea about 200 miles from Manila. The crew descended about 20,000 feet and successfully diverted to Manila. None of the passengers or crew were injured. A portion of the fuselage just forward of the wing root was found missing after the aircraft landed.
This is the third update from AirSafe.com on the ongoing investigation into the accident at London's Heathrow Airport involving a British Airways 777. This update is based on information released by the AAIB on 18 February 2008, and focuses on analyses of the fuel system, the engines, and their associated control systems. You can listen to or watch the podcast at the following links:
24 August 2010; Henan Airlines ERJ-190; B-3130; flight VD8387; Yichun, China: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Harbin to Yichun, China. The aircraft broke up and caught fire after it overran the runway after landing. At the time of the crash, there was fog in the area and limited visibility. The aircraft carried five crew members and 91 passengers, and 43 of the occupants were killed. At least one flight crew member survived.
Embraer 190 Crash History
